1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a portable hearing analysis system for use analyzing hearing-related conditions and for programming programmable hearing aids. More particularly, it relates to a plug-in portable hearing-related analysis system utilizing a portable host computer in conjunction with a plug-in hearing-related analysis Card that operate with a well-defined port.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hearing aids have been developed to ameliorate the effects of hearing losses in individuals. Hearing deficiencies can range from deafness to hearing losses where the individual has impairment of responding to different frequencies of sound or to being able to differentiate sounds occurring simultaneously. The hearing aid in its most elementary form usually provides for auditory correction through the amplification and filtering of sound provided in the environment with the intent that the individual can hear better than without the amplification.
Prior art hearing aids offering adjustable operational parameters to optimize hearing and comfort to the user have been developed. Parameters, such as volume or tone, may easily be adjusted, and many hearing aids allow for the individual user to adjust these parameters. It is usual that an individual""s hearing loss is not uniform over the entire frequency spectrum of audible sound. An individual""s hearing loss may be greater at higher frequency ranges than at lower frequencies. Recognizing these differentiations in hearing loss considerations between individuals, it has become common for a hearing health professional to make measurements that will indicate the type of correction or assistance that will be the most beneficial to improve that individual""s hearing capability. A variety of measurements may be taken, which can include establishing speech recognition scores, or measurement of the individual""s perceptive ability for differing sound frequencies and differing sound amplitudes. The resulting score data or amplitude/frequency response can be provided in tabular form or graphically represented, such that the individual""s hearing loss may be compared to what would be considered a more normal hearing response. To assist in improving the hearing of individuals, it has been found desirable to provide adjustable hearing aids wherein filtering parameters may be adjusted, and automatic gain control (AGC) parameters are adjustable.
Various systems for measuring auditory responses are known, and prior art audiometer systems characteristically are embodied in relatively large stand-alone units. Such hearing analyzing systems are referred to as audiometers, and usually provide for application of selected tones, broad-band noise, and narrow-band noise variable in frequency and amplitude, respectively, to aid in determining the amount of hearing loss a person may have. To assess hearing thresholds for speech, an audiometer may also reproduce live voice or recorded speech at selectable calibrated levels. Various complex controls are used to administer varying sound conditions to determine a range of responses for the individual. These responses can be charted or graphed, and can serve as the basis for applying programming signals to programmable hearing aids. Size and complexity result in prior art audiometers being primarily useful only in facilities primarily dedicated to hearing care. Further, there is usually a requirement that hearing response parameters determined through use of prior art audiometers be manually entered into hearing aid programming devices. Portable audiometers that can be used in conjunction with a portable hearing aid programming system are not available in the prior art.
The prior art audiometers usually include a separate housing, individual controls of various sound sources, and a separate power supply operating from its power cord or power source.
With the development of micro-electronics and microprocessors, programmable hearing aids have become well-known. It is known for programmable hearing aids to have a digital control section which stores auditory parameters and which controls aspects of signal processing characteristics. Such programmable hearing aids also have a signal processing section, which may be analog or digital, and which operates under control of the control section to perform the signal processing or amplification to meet the needs of the individual.
Hearing aid programming systems have characteristically fallen into two categories: (a) programming systems that are utilized at the manufacturer""s plant or distribution center, or (b) programming systems that are utilized at the point of dispensing the hearing aid.
One type of programming system for programming hearing aids are the stand-alone programmers that are self-contained and are designed to provide the designed programming capabilities. Stand-alone programmers are available commercially from various sources. It is apparent that stand-alone programmers are custom designed to provide the programming functions known at the time. Stand-alone programmers tend to be inflexible and difficult to update and modify, thereby raising the cost to stay current. Further, such stand-alone programmers are normally designed for handling a limited number of hearing aid types and lack versatility. Should there be an error in the system that provides the programming, such stand-alone systems tend to be difficult to repair or upgrade.
Another type of programming system is one in which the programmer is connected to other computing equipment, and are available commercially.
A system where multiple programming units are connected via telephone lines to a central computer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,086 to J. C. Platt. Another example of a programming system that allows interchangeable programming systems driven by a personal computer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,674 to W. Meyer et al. Other U.S. patents that suggest the use of some form of computing device coupled to an external hearing aid programming device are U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,481 to Mansgold et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,086 to Platt; U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,312 to Newton et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,432 to Totholm. Programming systems that are cable-coupled or otherwise coupled to supporting computing equipment tend to be relatively expensive in that such programming equipment must have its own power supply, power cord, housing, and circuitry, thereby making the hearing aid programmer large and not as readily transportable as is desirable.
Yet another type of hearing aid programmer available in the prior art is a programmer that is designed to install into and become part of a larger computing system. Hearing aid programmers of the type that plug into larger computers are generally designed to be compatible with the expansion ports on a specific computer. Past systems have generally been designed to plug into the bus structure known as the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) which has primarily found application in computers available from IBM. The ISA expansion bus is not available on many present-day hand-held or lap top computers. Further, plugging cards into available ISA expansion ports requires opening the computer cabinet and appropriately installing the expansion card.
When programming is applied to programmable hearing aids, it is desirable to be able to sample the effectiveness of the programming at the ear of the wearer. To this end, another hearing-related system, referred to as so-called xe2x80x9creal-earxe2x80x9d systems, have been employed to sample the output of a programmed hearing aid when in place on the user. Probe microphones are utilized to pick up the output of the hearing aid located in a user""s ear, and to provide an output signal that can be compared to a target insertion gain curve for the user. Normally this requires output readings to be taken and then entered manually into the programming device to compare actual responses to predicted responses. The real-ear system automatically calculates and displays the target insertion gain curve from audiometric data that is either entered manually or by computer-to-computer transfer. This interaction of a real-ear system with a programming device generally includes delay and requires manual introduction to provide input that can be used to adjust the hearing aid programming.
Some prior art real-ear systems are very complex. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,074 to Shennib et al. describes a system for providing a three-dimensional acoustic environment to evaluate unaided, simulated aided, and aided hearing function of an individual. A part of the evaluation involves an intra-canal prosthesis that is positioned in the ear canal, and incorporates a microphone probe to measure in-the-ear-canal response at a selected reference point. This system for real-ear analysis is relatively complex, is expensive, is intended for use in providing a multidimensional profile of the ear function, and is not easily transportable. It is designed to work with a personal computer system via the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus interface, so it is subject to interconnection concerns described above.
The prior art does not provide a hearing-related analyzer that operates with a hand-held computer to provide an interactive hearing aid programming system. Further, the prior art systems tend to be relatively more expensive, and are not designed to allow easy modification or enhancement of the programming software, the hearing-related analysis system software, or the various controlled programming or response parameters, while maintaining simplicity of operation, portability, and interactive functionality.
A primary objective of the invention is to provide an improved portable hearing-related analysis system for use with a system programming hearing aids, that utilizes a host computer having a pair of standardized ports, with a hearing aid programming card used with one of the pair of standardized ports and a hearing-related analyzer card used with the other of the pair of standardized ports. Hearing parameters of a user read by the audiometer can be provided to the host computer to be used in setting controls for use by the hearing aid programming card to program or adjust the programming of the hearing aids of the user. The output of a programmed hearing aid can be analyzed by a real-ear hearing-related analyzer in response to applied stimuli, and used by the host computer to adjust the programming that is applied to a programmable hearing aid.
A further primary objective of the invention in providing a small, highly transportable, inexpensive, and versatile system for analyzing a user""s hearing-related responses, including measuring a user""s hearing loss and measuring a real-ear hearing aid output, and programming hearing aids is accomplished through the use of host computer means for providing at least one hearing aid program, where the host computer means includes a first uniformly specified expansion port for providing power circuits, data circuits, and control circuits, and a pluggable programmer card means coupled to the first port for interacting with the host computer means for controlling programming of at least one hearing aid, the programming system including coupling means for coupling the card means to at least one hearing aid to be programmed. A second uniformly specified expansion port for providing power circuits, data circuits, and control circuits and a pluggable analyzer card means coupled to the second port for analyzing hearing-related response of a user and providing hearing parameters to the host computer means for use in controlling programming.
Another primary objective of the invention is to utilize a standardized specification defining the port architecture for a host computer, wherein a hearing-related analysis system or a hearing aid programming system can utilize any host computer that incorporates the standardized port architecture. In this regard, the personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) specification for the port technology allows the host computer to be selected from lap top computers, notebook computers, or hand-held computers where such PCMCIA ports are available and supported. With the present invention, it is no longer needed to provide general purpose computers, either at the location of the hearing health professional, or at the factory or distribution center of the manufacturer of the hearing aids to support the hearing-related analysis system or the programming function.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a highly portable system for programming hearing aids to thereby allow ease of usage by hearing health professionals at the point of distribution of hearing aids to individuals requiring hearing aid support. To this end, the hearing-related analysis circuitry end programming circuitry are fabricated on a Card that is pluggable to a PCMCIA socket in the host computer and is operable from the power supplied by the host computer. The hearing-related analyzing circuitry can be fabricated on one or more Cards that are pluggable to associated PCMCIA sockets in the host computer and being operable from power and software provided by the host computer.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved hearing aid programming system that utilizes standardized drivers within the host computer. In this aspect of the invention, the PCMCIA card means includes a card information structure (CIS) that advises the host computer of the identification and configuration requirements of the programming circuits on the card. In one embodiment, the CIS identifies the PCMCIA Card as a serial port such that standardized serial port drivers in the host computer can service the PCMCIA Card. In another embodiment, the CIS identifies the PCMCIA Card as a unique type of hearing aid programmer Card such that the host computer would utilize drivers supplied specifically for use with that Card. In another embodiment, the CIS identifies the PCMCIA Card as a hearing-related analyzer Card, thereby indicating to the host computer that such Card drivers will be utilized. Through the use of the standardized PCMCIA architecture and drivers, PCMCIA Cards for hearing aid programming and hearing-related analysis can be utilized with any host computer that is adapted to support the PCMCIA architecture.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a hearing aid programming system that can be readily programmed and in which the controlling programming software and the controlling selectable hearing parameters can be easily modified to correct errors or adjust for different conditions. In one aspect of the invention, the programming software for hearing aid programming is stored in the memory of a host computer and is available for ease of modification or debugging on the host computer. Similarly, programming software for the hearing-related analyzer is stored in the memory of the host computer and can be modified or debugged.
Another objective of the invention is to provide an improved system wherein the hearing aid programming circuitry and the hearing-related analyzer circuitry are each mounted on Cards that meet the physical design specifications provided by PCMCIA. To this end, each Card is fabricated to the specifications of either a Type I Card, a Type II Card, or a Type III Card depending upon the physical size constraints of the components utilized. The dimensions that are not part of the PCMCIA specification, for example, the length of the Card, can be adjusted to mount the necessary complement of components.
A further objective of this invention is to provide a portable hearing-related analyzer that can be readily coupled to a PCMCIA card for controlled interaction with a host computer.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a portable hearing-related analyzer system that can operate via a PCMCIA Card slot on a host computer to measure hearing responses of a patient in an audiometer function or to measure the output of an in-lace hearing aid in a real-ear function.
In one configuration, the audiometer comprises an audiometer capable of providing selectable variable sound sources to be applied to a patient whose hearing is being tested. The audiometer is controlled and powered by an associated host computer that functions to control operation of the audiometer by downloading control functions in response to selections entered in the host computer by the hearing care professional.
In a second configuration, the audiometer comprises a real-ear system that functions to monitor hearing aid output in the ear of the patient in response to various stimulus conditions selected by the hearing care professional, and to provide response parameters that can be compared to a predicted response utilized for initial programming of the patient""s hearing aid(s).
In all configurations, there can be a variety of performance levels. In one level of performance, results of the various hearing-related analyzer configurations are manually recorded, or are provided to on-line recording apparatus. Following recording, the hearing care professional makes appropriate entry in the host computer to cause the hearing aid programmer to adjust the patient""s hearing aid(s) to reflect the analysis. In a more interactive level of performance, the signals resulting from the hearing-related analysis are automatically fed back to the host computer, and are used by the programming software to provide changes in the hearing aid programming. Those changes can either be automatically and interactively provided to the hearing aid programming, or can be displayed to the hearing aid professional. When so displayed, the hearing aid professional can assess the monitored parameters and make judgments as to the most effective changes or adjustments that should be selected for optimizing the patient""s hearing enhancements.
These and other more detailed and specific objectives and an understanding of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment in view of the Drawings.